BBC Studios and Russian free-to-air channel Pyatnitsa! (Friday TV), announced that they will continue their local partnership for the BBC Planet franchise.

The new agreement will see Pyatnitsa! become the exclusive Russian free-to-air home for the next five landmark natural history series from BBC Studios Natural History Unit and leading independent natural history filmmaker, Silverback Films.

Pyatnitsa! is BBC Studios’ free-to-air partner for premium natural history and science programming in Russia, and has previously aired existing titles from the BBC Planet franchise; Planet Earth, Planet Earth II, and Blue Planet II.

Commenting on the agreement, Salim Mukaddam, Senior Vice President for Central and Eastern Europe, Mediterranean and Africa, BBC Studios said: “FRIDAY! has been the destination for our premium natural history and science programming in Russia since 2018 and has attracted a growing, and younger, audience to our programming. This long-term agreement will provide a dedicated home to our landmark natural history series into 2022 and will enable local audiences to better understand the greatest issues affecting our planet and our relationship with the natural world.”

Anastasia Korchagina, Head of Acquisitions and Sales at Pyatnitsa, said: “We are very proud to have BBC Studios Distribution as a major partner, to be the ‘home’ for their premium documentaries in Russia. It is the second big content package that we’ve closed in the last few years with BBC Studios. We know that FRIDAY!’s audience has a huge appetite for educational informative content, that’s why we decided to create a special time slot that is totally dedicated to premium BBC documentaries. The results have been amazing, for example Planet Earth launched with a share of 5% which is 28% up on the channel share and Islands won a share of 8,2%, 50 % up against channel share. Soon our audiences will have even more natural history and science content to view with the premieres of fantastic new programs: A Perfect Planet, Green Planet, Frozen Planet and Planet Earth III. Stay tuned!”